You’re Now Less Likely To Play With Jerks When Starting Out In Dota 2

Dota 2 is notorious for having a steep learning curve and a community that’s not always welcoming to newcomers. Recently, however, developer Valve released an update that is designed to help beginners have a better and more encouraging experience learning the game.

The update’s biggest change is to the matchmaking system. The previous system didn’t attempt to avoid certain discouraging situations, such as those where beginners would be matched with players who don’t react well to playing with newcomers. In the update, Valve tweaked the system to make sure that it matches newcomers with players that have consistently high behavior scores.

“It is especially important for a new player to have a good social experience while they are first trying to learn the game,” Valve explained in a blog post. “The matchmaking system will now ensure that new players will play with and against appropriately skilled players that also have a track record of good behavior.”

The second change Valve made was to character selection. Now, beginners will be restricted to just 20 heroes until they’ve completed 25 games. Valve has curated the group of heroes to include only those characters who “are very successful in helping new players learn and enjoy the game,” the studio stated.

In other Dota 2 news, The International is coming up next week and features a massive prize pool. If you’re not familiar with Dota 2, or even just starting out playing, Valve holds a Newcomer Stream of the tournament that is hosted by commentators who explain the way the game works.